Ileri
From: Prime Series: The Prime Insane Universe
Genres: Ancient Myth, Adventure, Magical
Date Written: 20/04/2020
Release Date: ?/?/?
Price: 250NGN
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Introduction
Leading diversity of life, Ileri had become a figure, most people never dare, creating fear into the mind of the powerful and the mighty, their prayers hoping night never comes, as it spells doom, no security has been able to lock her out, no team has brought her to book, loved by many, hated by thousands.
But since it means fighting for the right cause, nothing was standing on her path, but to her she saw it as simple fun, daring to do the things brave men dared not, only if she knew her life was going into a stranger course, one she didn't sign or plan for.
Known by various names, Godsent, Queen of the ocean, Human justice, Right of Eledumare
Making her standout are her mysterious powers no one knew how she got it.
Book One
Chapter One
Ileri grabbed the edge of the cliff and sighed as she looked down at the endless path, that went down and down. Beads of sweat rolled down her ruddy face, glittering her chocolate skinned face, she reached for the cliff with the other hand and pulled herself up.
Looking above, from where she had fell from, she smile and took about nine steps back away from the cliff, focusing on leaping over the wide gap between where she was and the other end, she sighed and took her mark, crouching on the ground.
She dashed forward, strengthening every muscles on her leg, getting to the tip of the cliff, she took the leap, with a loud scream, she swayed her hands in circular path to add the momentum, successfully reaching the other side, she rolled on the ground and strained as she fell hard on the ground, smacking her head against a stone which split her fore head.
She laid flat, taking time to rest, she giggled and rolled on her side, and stood up.
She retrieved a dagger from her waist, and walked forward into the cave before her.
She found herself standing before a tall alter, having a sword at the top, from where she stood, one could guess the alter to be about 25 feet tall.
"Why does it have to be this tall? " she asked herself and looked around the cave, hoping to find a solution, since the texture of the alter looked slippery and had no rough edges which she could climb on.
She walked closer to the alter and looked closely at the inscription on it, knowing what it was, the first writing of their ancestors, she looked around for any source of water, and smiled to herself.
"It says water, not any type of water, no specific type " she said and she grabbed a broken calabash and walked backward.
"I plead the gods don't be angry" she said and made a face of ecstasy.
Few seconds later, she bent down and raised the calabash filled with her urine and poured it on the alter.
Expecting something strange to happen, she bit her lips and suddenly the alter began to reduce, going into the ground.
"Whip of thunder" she said in gladness as the alter stood at her height.
She rubbed the blood on her face against her palm and instantly grabbed the huge sword with both hands.
She let out a loud scream as thunderbolt zapped through her body.
Thunder struck outside, turning the broad day light into darkness all over the village.
The palace door suddenly came open, and the Chief Priest walked in, looking from side to side as the maids lit up the oil torch on the wall, supporting himself with his walking stick, he prostrated before the king.
"Chief Priest, this is strange" the king said and rised from his throne, his golden crown, adorned with precious stones, sitting perfectly on his head, having the structure of a warrior, the kind flexed his broad muscles as he walked about the palace
"It's not strange my lord"
"Then what is it? "
The Chief Priest stood up and spoke
"The second degree, of the fifth class of Sango's sword has been retrieved, The Whip of Thunder now has a owner" The Chief Priest said calmly.
"IMPOSSIBLE!! "the king thundered and went mad with rage
"Commander, rally your men and bring who ever that filth is, the sword belongs to me"
Ileri was slowly elevated into the air, as thunder sparked out from her body, her eyes, hands, while the sword was firm on her grip.
She landed softly and opened her eyes, revealing a set of purple eyeballs, with little traces of white on them.
"It's mine" she said softly admiring the sword which was made of thunder threads.
Ileri looked up and slashed the sword on the ground, the force in return elevated her with speedily into the air, she slashed the sword above her head, making a path for her through the rock.
She came through the rock from below into the desert and landed, with a little staggering.
She looked up as the dark clouds rapidly began fading off
"In the name of the king, you're ordered to hand over that sword" a baritone voice said behind her.
Quickly she pulled up the black piece of cloth around her neck and covered her face from the nose down. She turned around and faced the King's soldier, the commander taking the lead, with about ten other soldiers seated on their horses.
"Which King, if he needed this so badly he should have come to get it for himself" Ileri replied and her purple eyes began glowing, her sense also became heightened
"You dare speak to the king in such a way, get her, dead or alive that sword leaves with us, that's an order"
***
***
The king suddenly dashed at the commander, almost been invisible, he grabbed the commander's sword from the sheath on his waist and slashed the spider closest to the commander in the neck, separating his head from the body.
Fear gripped the soldiers, anyone could be next, they knew how irrational Oba Gbenro could be, when he went into his berseker mode, nothing could stand on his oath.
The king trailed his fingers on the commanders shoulder from behind and whispered into his ears
"How strong could she be, how smart could she be? " he asked in a creepy tone.
The oil lamps in the palace began to burn furiously, as the king spoke with rage, each one burning fiercely in rhythm with how the king used his tone.
The commander gulped and began to breath heavily
"Today isn't the day you die, I want the sword by all means" Oba Gbenro said and sighed, trying to calm his emotion.
"We won't fail you, my king"
"You shouldn't, I don't take defeat lightly"
Ileri walked into the bar by the sea, still covering her face from the nose down, she walked up to the bar and passed three bronze coin to the bartender.
"Rum" she said and began tapping her hands on the wooden table, her sword hanging from her back, zapping out thunderbolts tag seems not to hurt her in any way.
The bar door, suddenly came open, a man looking wet ran in panting heavily.
"Everyone, I saw the sea monitor, and it tore my ship into two, together we can face this monster"
A huge man with a missing eye stood up and walked up to the man
"You know me for my fearless act, but this sea monitor is a no go area, see this" the man said pointing to his missing eye
"That bastard did this to me" The man said and turned around so everyone could see it.
"This sea monitor is just as strong as we perceive it, in numbers we can overcome it"
"Give me a ship, and I'll bring it's head to you" Ileri's voice interrupted them.
Looking at her, the bartender chuckled and dropped the wooden cup on her table. The man with he missing eye walked up to her and held her by the arm
"And by whose authority do you speak, a lady has no say in this"
With swift movement, Ileri grabbed the man by the head and banged it on her table, breaking it into many pieces
The man groaned, surprised by how easily Ileri countered him and pulled a man of such weight and height to the ground.
Ileri retrieved her sword and swing it skillfully.
"Isn't that Whip of thunder " someone in the bar said in shock
"It has no counterfeit, but how did she have her hands on that? " another whispered
The huge man stood beside Ileri and looked at her, folded his arms into each other and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"I'll let my pride down, what else do you need? "
Standing on the hull of the ship, Ileri shouted from the top, directing the sailor where to turn to
"I see something like it, head north " Ileri shouted and slide down from the hull.
"The thing might be big, but not smart, definitely not smart, do we have any Archer?" Ileri asked the huge man, Mare
"Sure" Mare replied and screamed "IGE!! "
Getting closer to the sea monitor, Ileri held tight to her sword and began tilting it around, gathering enough thunder current into it.
"First we have to annoy it, then I'll take it from there" Ileri said to the Archer, who kept focusing on his bottle of rum.
"are you even listening? "
"Just tell me what to do lady" Ige replied harshly and pulled the strong of his bow, standing before the ram of the ship.
"the eyes"
The sea monitor, growled loudly, it's razor sharp irregular teeth filled with sticky saliva, the body covered up in full thick scale, the numerous tentacles, similar to the blades of mighty warriors joined in one.
Ige pulled the string of his bow, releasing the arrow, hitting an eyes among many on the sea monitor. The monster growled in rage and began dashing furiously at the ship, making huge wave spread around.
Ileri tied a rope around her waist, whike Mare held the it firmly, swiftly Ileri dived overboard, stopping few inches away from the sea while the ship was moving, she slashed the sword against the sea, releasing high thunder voltage into it.
Striking the sea monitor, the thunder Bolt, literary smoked it, burning it down, without giving it any chance to struggle for survival.
"Yeeeahhhhhhhhh" everyone on board shouted with joy as the monitor fell hard on the sea.
***
***
Ileri stood few distance away from the men, staring at the full moonlight, she beamed with smile, the victory was so easy, even she herself never anticipated it.
Mare walked up to her and hit her slightly on the shoulder
"You know for a lady, you've earned enough respect for yourself lad" Mare said and also focused on the moon
"Yeah, it's nice isn't it"
Mare kept mute for a while and spoke, raised his eyebrow as he made the first statement
"The boys, they'll need someone like you to lead them"
Ileri tilted her head and looked at Mare, raising her head so am to be able to see him well, his huge figure was something she secretly admired
"Me? "
"Over the years, we've all lived as scavengers, no future, no hope, the king looting legal illegally from us, placing huge task on us, the rich are getting rich, whike the poor remain the same, and we fear for our future, especially our children " Mare said and turned around to leave
"Wait" Ileri said and smiled at Mare.
The men stood around a camp fire, singing merrily, passing a calabash around, each taking a handful of the sea monitor meat and eating with joy and uplifted spirit
"Listen up boys" Mare's huge voice said behind them
"The lady has a word for us"
***
***
Mare alighted his horse and rallied the men, twelve in number, men of great valour, bold, skilled in different aspect, smart and aggressive
"Where's Ileri? " Mare asked and spread the map with him on the ground.
"What's up? " Ige asked and he adjusted the string of his bow.
"Words just got out, the haven, OBA Gbenro, has sent his men to collect tax from them" Mare said and looked up at them as they formed a circle around him
"And how's that our business" Ige asked
Mare stood up, looking fiercely at Ige
"Now tell me, how your wife and children were slaughtered, I know, right before your eyes, a skilled Archer who couldn't save his family" Mare said in annoyance
"Don't bring my family into this, I you might be huge, but that doesn't stop me from bringing you down" Ige replied and walked closer to Mare, engaging him in his own space.
"See, Ige, I don't mean to be rude, but if we can get revenge, this is the only way"
Ige muttered and moved back
"Where's Ileri? "
"I'm here" she replied and joined the crew
"Morning everyone " Mare said and knelt down, placing his thumb on the map
"Here is where the little town lies, the population, less than seven hundred, and yet Oba Gbenro still place burden on them" Mare said and continued
"From here, we lay ambush on the soldiers, they are just seventeen and with our skills we outnumber them"
"Seems like we have a plan, let's roll boys"
Riding into the village, Mare and Ileri alighted their horses and stood at the entrance. Holding his sword in his shoulder, Mare looked around at the poor state of the village, which comprised mainly of basket weavers and bead makers
The noise of approaching horses could be heard, and slowly the King's soldiers rode into the village, only to be stopped by Ileri who already had her face covered from the nose down and Mare who grinned wickedly, and placed his left thumb on his missing eye.
"Move out of the way, and get ready to pay your tax, each and everyone of you" the soldier that led shouted.
Taken by surprise, Mare pulled the soldier off from his horse and slammed him hard on the ground, instantly breaking his back bone.
"Deliver this message to your king" He shouted and out of nowhere, an arrow struck a soldier on the chest, dropping him down.
Confused the soldiers alighted their horses and dashed furiously at Mare and Ileri.
Holding out her Whip of thunder, Ileri dashed forward, slashing her opponent.
The bodies of the soldiers were laid on their horses and sent back to the King, with a letter placed in between the breast plate of the leader.
The villagers slowly began to gather around, taken by surprise and at the one time speechless.
"Listen up everyone, we know how hard you toil and how you've been deprived of your rights, we have sent a message to the king, and we shall get every message across to everyone taking advantage of us, if anyone ask, tell them the soldiers never neared the village, save yourself from trouble" Mare announced and climbed on his horse "We keep watch "
*Chapter Two
Ileri dropped the pot of soup from fire and began dishing out to everyone one after another, and sat to eat the remnant in the locally made calabash pot, sitting djstnace away from the men. Mare sat beside her, folding his legs into each other and blew off steam from the soup.
"Have you heard about the legends of the the Blue mountain? " He asked calmly and used his wooden spoon to stir the soup, before dipping some in his mouth
"Those legends are falls, I have tried on many occasions to locate it, I always meet dead ends" she said and raised the pot up.
"Actually I have seen it" Mare replied and stirred his soup
"Lie" Ileri replied and dipped her spoon into her mouth
"It's true, all legends are true, this body frame wasn't as huge and this, but then I met with the water wolf, who granted me some great amount of strength, but then I didn't have the body to contain such powers, so I had to go extra mile, in building my body" Mare paused and continued "You See I was once like you, filled of life, but my spirit was crushed "
"By what? "
"Emotions, once I served as the kings commander, but when I got him his power root, he decided to kill me, cause I knew the source and he didn't want me to know the weakness, somehow I was smart enough to escape "
Ileri looked at Mare and smiled
"I see why you hate him so much" Ileri replied and gulped loudly
Someone from the band, walked up to Mare and Ileri, holding tight to his spears on both hands
"Mare, we need to talk, things can't keep going this way, after this, there is no other source of food"
Mare stood to his feet, his huge figure completely covering the man that spoke
"I heard of a pirate ship that would be delivering tonight, we can cross them before they get here and loot them" the man suggested.
"That sounds good, but that isn't what we stand for, looting people" Mare said
"Define a pirate " Ileri cut in and stood up "Gather the men around, we move as soon as possible, attack them in broad day light " Ileri said.
Boarding their ship, they immediately set for sail, Ileri walked up to Ige who stood alone at the edge of the ship, holding tight to his bow.
"Your quiver is getting empty" Ileri said, counting about twenty arrows in it.
Ige turned around, seeming to be the youngest in the group, he smirked and looked at the sea
"I get it, you don't like me, I'll just walk off" Ileri said and walked off
Ige sighed and looked at her through the corner of his eyes and breathed in and out heavily.
"Is he always like that, I've seen how he relates with others, but he's different when I talk to him " Ileri said and stood beside Mare who was handling the ship navigation
"He doesn't trust easily, he had the most brutal experience among us, for someone his age, he has had terrible experience " Mare said, holding tight to the ship's steering.
"What happened?" Ileri asked and closed her eyes as she felt the refreshing sea breeze
"He is from a far village, far, his father sold him into slavery, burnt his mother alive, for not cooperating, ripped out the eyes of his sister, to disfigure her beauty for reasons known to him" Mare said and turned the steering to the left
"That's cruel, after this, we should make movement against slavery, I'm a victim, I drugged my master, never knew it'll kill him, so I came here to start a new life" Ileri said softly and closed her eyes, feeling huge burden on her heart.
"Calm, they paid for their sins, the gods have thier ways of dealing with the wicked"
"Prepare for battle!!!" the ship sparrow shouted and slide down the hull.
"Are you ready " Mare asked Ileri and turned the ship sharply, towards the direction of the pirate ship.
Ileri looked up as seagulls flew above them in numbers and retrieved her Whip of thunder, which began crackling with thunder bolts, trialing up through her right arm.
"Hold tight!! "
The pirate ship, which was way bigger than thiers, opened up the dock of their ship, loaded their cannons and immediately fired rapid shot at their opponent
"We're under gun fire, Mare, ram their ship, we have no cannons " someone shouted.
"Slay them all! " Mare shouted as he rammed the ship so hard, it sent sea wave over both ships.
Ileri grabbed Mare's arm as he easily pulled her up, she ran over the ram, into the pirate ship, followed by her band members.
Mare removed his huge Swords from their sheaths and slashed his approaching opponents, swiftly turning around, which looked impossible for someone of his size.
Ige hanged his bow around his back, and took two arrows, one on each hand, he bent down, dodging the incoming attack, drove the arrow into his opponents leg, slashed the joints and rolled over to another person, and did a flip kick, he removed his bow and placed three arrows on it, and released the bow string. One of the arrow flew pass Ileri striking the opponent that was sneaking up on her.
Ileri looked back and saw Ige who stood still looking at her.
"I haven't... " the man with the spear said and grunted, drove both spears into two different opponents "had this fun in years " he said and bent down as a knife rotated pass him.
"Goke, you have to tune those knives, they're coming at me"
"Find the captain" Mare shouted and threw someone off from the ship.
***
***
The men shouted and began dancing joyfully as they drank rum from the barrels on the ship, singing joyfully and making beats on the ship
"What do we do with the spoils, we have excess, we got about three hundred gold coins from the pirate, another two hundred while searching the cabins, forty silver coins and I found a strange map" Mare said to Ileri
"We should split the excess, sell some, keep some, share the money equally among ourselves, the returns from goods sold, we give to the poor" Ileri suggested.
"That's wise of you, what about this map, something in it might interest you" Mare said and handed Ileri the map.
Quickly she spread it opened, looked carefully at it and looked at Mare
"The blue mountains, it's real! "
***
***
Oba Gbenro listened, as different eye witnesses talked about the girl with the whip of thunder and how she had killed the sea monitor.
Lowering his head, Oba Gbenro eyes began to let out blue cracks of lightning, he stretched his hands forward, ordering the witness should be led out of the palace.
"So Mare is still alive, after all these years, I thought he was gone for good" Oba Gbenro said with a husky voice and raised his head
"Place a bounty on Mare and who ever the girl is, I don't want anybody giving hopes I've already crushed "
Ileri passed Ige a wine calabash, and walked towards Goke, where he stood filing his numerous daggers and placing them neatly beside each other, she took a dagger and acted like she was throwing it an an opponent.
"You'll be dead before you even flip it, if you continue that way " Goke said and hit his left shoulder armour hardly
Ileri looked at him blankly as he picked a dagger and held it up by the tip
"It took me years before I knew how to balance it" Goke said and threw the knife and grabbed it behind Ileri's neck
"Ohh, how did you do that? " Ileri asked excitedly
"It's a gift from the gods, everyone of us here are special in some way or the other, I heard you're going for the blue mountains" Goke said and continued filling his daggers
"Yes"
"Nobody has ever returned, it might be your death" Goke said, paused and continued "The men, they're dropping out, somehow they changed their minds, the loot from the last attack, some has decided to settle down and begin lucrative business,but their loyalty still lies with you, whenever you need them in trying times"
Ileri looked around and saw truly the men were preparing their things, to leave and begin whatever it is they were going to do
"What about you?"
Goke smiled and continued filling his dagger, he raised his head up and winked at Ileri
"What do you think, I'm with you, Mare, Ige and Ola also" Goke replied and stood up, and adjusted the armour around his left hand and stared at Ileri for a while.
"Come on, I have something for you" Goke said and led the way into the ship.
Entering into his cabin, he bent down, and dragged out a wooden box from under the bamboo bed and opened it, revealing a golden feminine armour, which seemed to reach to the waist of anyone wearing it, with just a supporting frame, which was on the left, leaving the other shoulder bare.
"Here, it's all yours" Goke said
Ileri beamed up with broad smile and knelt down, trailed her hands on the armour and raised it up.
"It's lovely, it's the first gift I'll ever be receiving in my life" Ileri said and looked into the box, and noticed a female trouser, boots made from sheep's wool and a sheath.
"And these? " she asked curiously
"Yeah "
***
***
Mare alighted his horse and got on the ship, while Ige followed behind him
"Where are the rest? " Mare asked Ige
"They all left, except Goke"
Goke walked up to the dock meet with Mare and Ige, while Ileri came up adjusting her armour, her upper body was only covered by the armour, leaving her right shoulder and her waist bare, and a red waist bead sitting perfectly around her hips, the trouser on her and the boots on her legs, while the sheath was hanging loosely from her waist.
"You finally found someone to gift those" Mare said and hit Goke slightly on the shoulder
"Hey big man, easy with the punch" Goke teased and smiled as Ileri looked up at them.
"It looks perfect on you" Ige said to Ileri, the first time he would speak to her.
"Thanks you"
"Alright, enough of the compliments, we might be having our first official mission"
Everyone gathered around Mare and waited for him to speak
"We are headed to The Forgotten Lair" he said and twitched his nose
"Joking right? "
"It's true"
"That place holds bad history, and what are doing there in the first instance?" Ige asked and looked directly at Mare
"Funny, we are not going there, just somewhere around there, I heard of a new ruler at one of the nearby village, who makes the people pass through fire, for his pleasure, make them do death matches just to keep his family busy "
"Some village don't have rulers just some blood thirsty power drunk person, when they get powers they think they are gods, we can begin making our marks there, while we put Oba Gbenro in suspense" Goke said and nodded his head
"I have entrusted the ship to someone trust worthy" Mare said and cracked his neck bones.
***
***
Riding tiredlessly for three days,they finally arri at the village, going into it, right from the first building, were idols of different kinds, hanged on the wall of buildings, with palm oil dripping from it.
"What kind of village is this? " Ige whispered as he rode his horse beside Mare
"They are not doing these by choice, this city should be doomed but somehow the gods understand their plights" Mare replied and alighted his horse.
"There's an inn over there, we should rest" Mare suggested and led the way.
Making themselves comfortable at the last corner of the bar, on the right wing, Mare gulped down the entire wine in the gourd and breathed heavily, grabbed another and drank halfway
"The wine is too good" he said and wiped the remnants of his beard off.
"Listen up everyone! " a soldier said, as he entered with his colleagues and walked to the center of the bar.
"Tomorrow, Your King has decided to reward anyone who can defeat Oju Ina, his best warrior, with a thousand pieces of gold and make such person his commander" The soldier announced and went out
"It's simply another way, to stop us from coming up against him in number, I have never seen anyone as strong as Oju Ina, he knows how well the human mind is closed with money, and he uses it to destroy us" a drunkard said and smashed the gourd with him on the ground annoyingly.
"Let's rest, " Ileri said and stood up.
Mare opened his eyes, and raised up from the bamboo bed, in the middle of the night, cracked his knuckles, he paid attention to his environment and noticed some strange and suspicious movement, around the corridor, outside his room, next to his room was Ileri's room, while he and the rest had shared the same room, Ige's bed was positioned next to him, while Goke was next to Ige.
Not wanting to disturb the others, he quietly stood up and leaned close to the door.
A loud crash suddenly came from Ileri's room, and quickly Mare ran out of his room, and saw someone dressed in a black hood dash out of Ileri's room, while Ileri pursued who ever it was, holding tight to her whip of thunder, while she was dressed in a overall sheep clothing.
Skillfully the person leaned over the wall of the inn, unable to continue the chase, Ileri stopped before the wall.
"Who was that? " Mare asked and he ran up to Ileri.
"I don't know, it came for the sword" Ileri said and turned around.
"Come on, whoever it is, will come back again and we will pin it down" Mare replied and placed his huge arms around Ileri's shoulder.
***
***
The next morning, everyone converged at the village arena, practically the entire village was empty, everyone converging at the event.
The village was one with a tough ruler, not a king, the leadership was always gotten when a coup was successful, thus, anyone could decide to over throw the present ruler, once he sees himself powerful enough, but for the past two years, this present ruler had prove to be so powerful, and full of tactics, people found it hard to go up against him.
Right in the arena, was a well built fighter, metal knuckles around his hands, with shape points on them, standing at about 7 feet tall, with oddly built muscles.
"Make way! "
The ruler rode in on his horse followed on foot by his soldiers, who were fierce looking, he rubbed his bald head with his right palm, and raised both hands up, the sun making the numerous fancy rings around his fingers glitter, he smiled broadly, revealing his set of teeth which were made of gold, for a man standing at about 5 feet one could question how on earth he had the power to overthrow the previous ruler and command a band of terror warriors, like he commanded a dog.
"Today is a great day, arghargh, Oju Ina here has hold a record of two hundred fights and no lose, is there no one who can kill him, there's a reward, you'll be my commander, and I'll grant you two wishes" The ruler shouted, and laughed hysterically
People began to murmur among themselves, no one had the guts to go out, the arena was still filled with blood of those that had dared take up any challenge whatsoever which included facing Oju Ina
"I see, sincerely this is becoming boring"
"I will" Mare's voice came from the spectators and he made his way into the area, while Ileri, Ige and Goke followed behind him.
"You're new around here? " The ruler asked and growled, seeing Mare was a formidable opponent, about two inches shorter than his fighter.
"Skip the questions and let the fight begin" Oju Ina said and growled softly, hit the fist knuckles on him together and growled loudly. *
***
***
Mare held Oju Ina by the hair and slammed him hard on the ground, was about attempting another strike, just then Oju Ina rolled off, and with swiftness, he rammed his body hard against Mare, sending him distance off, he leaped into the air, joined his hands together, to land a massive hit on Mare, who was quickly to counter him, by puling those hands forward,. Along Oju Ina lose balance and whipped him on the floor. Mare didn't waste any moment in kicking Oju Ina hard on the stomach repeatedly, laughing wickedly as he did that.
"Is he always asks brutal as that? " Ileri asked, seeing the evil form Mare had take
"When he enjoys the fight, he is a monster" Goke replied
Mare raised Oju Ina up, and positioned him well, took some steps backward and crouched in the ground.
"No this is bad! " The village ruler said and shouted "Kill him! "
Ileri and the rest dashed out into the arena and have an offensive attack on the soldiers, using her whip of thunder, Ileri slashed them down, in numbers. While Goke put his knives to good use, slashing throats and gorging out eyes, Ige on his part, decided not to east any arrow on opponent that was not worthy enough, as he used two arrow head to do the killing.
Mare, strengthened his feet muscles and dashed forward, stepped inches aside, and used his arm to grapple Oju Ina by the neck, smashing every neck bone.
Seeing this, the ruler kicked his horse, turned around and attempted to take off, Ige placed an arrow on his bow and sit the horse in the leg, and in response, the horse, threw off the ruler and fell hard to the ground.
"Your days are numbered " Goke said and held the ruler by the cloth, and one after the other, he removed the rings on his fingers, and smashed his face, placed his Palm under the Tyler's mouth, as the gold teeth began to fall off.
"Tell me what you want, I can make you so powerful, I have money, girls, gold's, silver, anything, mention, please don't kill me"
"No I won't kill you, they will" Goke said and raised the ruler up, faced the angry mob and threw him at them.
Mare panted heavily and cracked his neck. A money sack filled with gold coins slide in front of Mare, looking up, he smiled and picked the sack.
"We got you your town"
"And I gave you your money, seems you had fun" a lady in her earlier thirties said and smiled.
"Mare you told us something different " Ileri said as she walked up to them, and returned her sword into the sheath
"No, no lies in the Story, I only didn't say, we would be getting paid"
"Who's she" the lady Mare was speaking to asked
"Our leader, so what are you going to do after now"
The lady smiled and looked around
"You'll install me as a proper king, then I bring the city back on track, and I hope things goes normal, I'll make a good government, like every other villages "
Mare nodded his head and spoke
"Or sounds good, but so you know, if anything goes wrong, we will come for you"
***
***
Getting back to the inn, Ileri walked out and looked afar off, towards the direction of the forgotten liar, somehow she felt she needed to get there
She walked up to her horse and climbed on it, geared the horse, and was double crossed my Mare.
"Where are you off too? " Mare asked and looked towards the direction of the forgotten lair
"The Lair"
"I knew you wouldn't take your mind off it, come on, let's go"
Ileri smiled and slightly kicked her horse, Ige came out from where he hid himself and walked into the inn, tapped Goke by the shoulder and spoke
"They went to the Lair"
"Very predictable, we will wait and enjoy what this city has for us, we are like god's, if after four days, they don't return, we go looking for them, and if it happens things goes odd, then that's all"
Chapter Three
Stopping their horses before the thick most that bordered the wasteland after the village from the Forgotten Lair, both Ileri and Mare alighted their horses and looked on for a while.
"Shadows of the dead warriors from the greatest war in history, this is where the war among both Kings took place, while going for the mysteries in the Forgotten Lair" Mare said, and watched as the mist thickened
"What now? "
"It's the only way in, the only thing I'm scared of, is the stories about it plays with your imagination, making it look like perfect reality " Mare said and stretched his hands forward into the mist.
"stick close to me" Mare said and walked into the mist.
Looking around, up ahead were thick mist, only the ground was a bit visible, revealing fresh skeletons, like they died of recent.
A swift ghostly image moved around the mist and something hard hit Mare, throwing him hard to the ground, and next he heard Ileri grunt and muffled.
He stood up, holding tight to his sword and whispered Ileri's name, turning around as he moved slowly in the mist.
Ileri strained her eyes, clutching tight to the whip of thunder, not sure of what she saw, but earlier she saw red glowing eyes distance away and somehow it vanished.
"Mare"
Mare moved slowly, as he heard low growl, and next he saw red glowing eyes also and immediately dashed at it.
Ileri turned around and saw the red glowing eyes running swiftly at her, as it came closer, she saw what looked like a demon, with skinny body frame dashing at her.
Mare leaped at the beast before him and smacked it's face. Was about slashing it, but it had quicker reflex than him, it dodged his strike perfectly and a wave sent him off.
Ileri screamed as she dashed at the beast which she pulled down, jumped into the air and struck her whip of thunder at it, quickly the beast rolled aside, dodging the attack and grabbed Ileri by the neck and raised its huge fangs up.
Mare raised his sword, holding tight to the beast, and was about striking it, but something caught his gaze, looking at the mud water on the ground, instead of seeing the beast, what he saw was Ileri.
"Illusion, we've been fighting ourselves" Mare said and released the grip on Ileri's neck.
As the beast freed her, Ileri screamed loudly, gathered current into the sword, charged it up and whipped the beast so hard, it was followed by immediate smoke.
Mare tumbled on the ground continuously and coughed in pains, as he lost control over his body, the hit was too much to withstand.
"Ileri, it me, stop"
Ileri grinned as she approached the beast, which raised it hands up.
Mare placed his fingers on the ground and weakly wrote his name on it, looking closely, Ileri stoodstill on seeing the name and reasoned, the beast already had her, but somehow purposely let it's guards down.
"Hey" Ileri said in shock and knelt down beside the beast, and strained as she struggled to lift it up to its feet and support it on herself, while she struggled out of the mist.
Getting out the mist, the beast she saw earlier, turned into Mare and slowly she laid him down, against the foot of the mountain closest to her.
"Almost had you there" She said in a sad tone and looked at the burnt mark on Mare's chest.
"I need a little time to heal" Mare said and looked at the wound.
"You can heal? "
Mare scoffed and let out a dry cough
"When I served with king on the mission to get his power root, the sisters of the singing river, gave me an eternal healing herb, as a reward of friendship" Mare said and dipped his right hand into the tiny sack bag with him, which he kept around his waist and brought out a dried leaf.
"It never finish " he said and applied it on the wounds.
He let out a horrible scream as his body began to heal, sweats forcefully breaking out from his body.
He began panting heavily as the pain began to subside.
"Hey, are you alright?" Ileri asked and placed both of her palms on his left hand which contained them conveniently
"Yes" Mare replied and signed as Ileri sat down next to him and leaned on his shoulder.
"What should we expect inside there, seeing this? " Ileri asked feeling worried
"The best, whatever is in there that made two great Kings go against themselves should be worth it" Mare replied and stood up "Come on" he said and stretched his hands and pulled Ileri up.
"That's our way in" Mare said pointing to the wide opening before them.
***
***
Deep into the cave, the further then went, the darker it went, Ileri charged up her ship of thunder, which illuminated their way, walking for some few hours, they came out I an entirely different t part, so. Thing they had never saw in their entire existence until now, even no one would have imagined something as that.
A world of elements, they've only heard theories about how some tribe exist, a tribe that could control elements and decide on what to do with it, but never had they been able to make it to the surface world
The wind took various forms of human, transparent as crystal clear water, water also, the earth also took form of human, but they were made of rock, and fire also.
"It's true, this is the secret the great Kings died with, they needed the events to be able to have total control over the world, but the mist caused confusion among both kings" Mare said, from where they hid themselves.
***
***
They were both pushed hard to the ground, before the elemental lords, which were way bigger and broader than the others.
Mare went on his knees and supported Ileri with his body, since both of them were tightly bound, easily overpowered by the fire element that saw them.
"Humans, how did you overcome the mist? " the elemental leader asked, his voice coming repeatedly at them, his body was a perfect blend of all elements together.
"We come in peace, our quest for knowledge brought us here" Mare replied and bowed his head
"Humans, since when do you come in peace and value knowledge, even Eledumare must be certain you're playing with words" the elemental leader said and rised from the throne which was made of fire, coming down with winds beneath his feet.
"You came here for powers"
Ileri and Made looked at each other and Ileri stood up.
"How dare you stand before me" the king shouted in fury, and made his eyes burned with flames.
"True we came for power, great King, if you search through our mind, you'll know it true" Ileri said and brought out her whip of thunder, and immediately all guards ran forward, while some formed a wall before their king.
"This here, is Sango's whip of thunder, one of his few gifts he left for his descendants " Ileri said and made the the sword crack with thunder.
"The story the wind bring are true" the king whispered and ordered the guards to stand down.
"Only a pure blood can have that, even if anyone has that, his intentions will reflect on the sword, changing the color of the lightning, if you're evil it portrays dark lightning, pure mind, portrays white lightning, or blue " the king said with a broad smile.
"Be our guest"
***
***
Riding back into the village, Ileri and Mare met the others at the boundary, ready to go look for them.
"How was the Lair? " Goke asked and he tried to stable his horse.
"The legends are true brother" Mare replied, a broad smile on his face
"Words came in, a small town east, three days journey from here, the twin was raided by Axe brother, second hand to Sigidi as he has addressed himself" Goke said and moved his horse forward a bit.
"Can we still catch up with them? " Ileri asked
"Sure, such spoils will slow them down" Mare replied and waited for Goke to lead the way
From afar they could see the ruins of the city, and geared the horses, making sure they ran an fast as they could.
Entering into the city, Mare alighted his horse while it was still on motion, walking through the ruined city, from various angles they could hear the cry of some little children.
"They had no mercy on them" Ige said, focusing his face on a little girl child, who look exhausted and malnourished
Dead bodies filled the ground, letting out offensive odour, and flies perching on them restlessly.
"Come on, enough of the sight, let's get them" Gone said and geared his horse, hitting it hard with his legs.
Oba Gbenro smashed his fancy throne with one swift blow and tore his cloth into two piece off his body.
"You failed in bringing me that sword, and you watched as they went through the mist, came out successful and you still had the guts to report such news to me" Oba Gbenro shouted and made flames come out from his hands.
"My King" the person dressed in dark overall hood said and stood up from the kneeling position.
"You know the legends about the sword, it can't have another owner until such person does it frees the sword willingly "
Oba Gbenro growled and looked at the person
The hood came down, revealing a female face, fair on complexion, a set of tiny eyes, her hair, cut short, and grey
"I should burn you down! " Oba Gbenro scream and dashed at the lady.
He stopped his attack, and moved his eyeballs down, somehow the lady had countered him, placing a dagger to his neck, while the king panted heavily.
"Same old Gbenro, work on your speed" she said and retreated, placed back her hood and turned around.
"You know where to find me"
***
***
Ileri bent down beside the flowing river and dipped her mouth into it, drinking hastily from it, like her life depended on it, walking up to her, Ige brought out bread from his sack bag and handed it over to her, gladly she received it and munched it with just three bites.
"Thank you" she said and smiled at him
"I actually reserved that for you" Ige replied and scoop a handful of water and drank.
"Mare told me about your family, I'm sorry about that" Ileri said
Ige looked up at the sky and stood up
"We can't rest, we should catch up with them before night fall" he said and walked to his horse, which was also drinking from the river.
***
***
"We are close, they are like dots in the distance" Ileri shouted as she galloped her horse, using the disguise, she raised the black piece of cloth and covered her face, from the nose down, and others followed suit.
The lashing of wipes on the body of the captives, tore deep into their skin, all tied to a single bamboo, which was placed in between their left arm and the waist, and tightly they were bounded to it.
The captors, snarled at their prey, and continued lashing them severely, anyone who didn't walk at expected it collapsed uunnecessary
Dressed in thick black armour like scales, which looked impenetrable, the leaders, about seven of them, we're the only ones who rode on horses, beside them, we're three huge warriors, wielding a very huge club on thier hands, their steps could tell they were no human.
"Some group are approaching us, and they're fast " a soldier said, pointing towards the raising dust afar.
The leaders looked at the direction and each alighted their horse.
"Intersect them" the one with very huge arms said and adjusted his helmet, removed and showed a very irritating fave which was at all not human.
The face looked sticky and removed sticky mucus from the ears, thick little tentacles on the edge of the face, he sniffed and placed back his helmet.
"Kill them"
"Kill them all" Mare shouted as the draw nearer and two of their opponents were attacking without support from the others.
Mare shouted as he grabbed an opponent by the neck and smashed it against another, seeing the disgusting face as their helmet fell off, he pulled his horse to a stop and also others and the same, looking on with long faces.
"Keep one alive" Goke said and charged.
***
***
Ileri vomited as Mare inserted two fingers into the ear of what they later knew were Abami (Strange).
"I thought the great Kings, put an end to them" Ileri said and squeezed her face, looking disgusted.
"Everyone thought so" Mare replied and stood up, looked at the one that was kept alive, tied to a tree and walked up to it.
He removed a dagger from his side and drove it into the arm of the Abami and watched as it let out a screeching noise.
"Why did you take the village? " Mare asked, expecting quick response, only to be met by sticky saliva on his face
"You shouldn't have done that " Mare said angrily and brought out his sword, and was about slashing the Abami.
"Enough, get out of here!" Ileri said in a stern voice.
"It better talks" Mare said and looked at Goke who was attending to the saved captives.
Ileri muttered something in ancient Yoruba language and sighed, hearing this, the Abami spoke in the ancient, long forgotten tongue.
"You understand it, I'll talk to you alone" the Abami said and slurped up the tricking saliva from its mouth.
Ileri walked closer and signalled it to talk.
"Over the years, we've evolved, gotten stronger, I can assure you,when we are strong enough, we will rule this earth, but one after the other, we will attack weak villages from every corner ,capture them and make them like us" the Abami said and brought out its dark tongue.
Mare wiped off the saliva and looked at Goke who kept mute
"Won't you say something? " Mare asked and stared at Goke
"What should I say? " Goke asked and stood up, away from the person he was treating.
"I saw how you looked at me, when she shouted" Mare said and smelt the rag
"Well, she's doing what leaders does, we both know why we stayed, so don't take offences " Goke said and kept mute as Ige walked closer to them.
"How many are you now? " Ileri asked the Abami
"More than three million, our queen gives birth to hundred each day, you can't stop it"
"Where's your hive? "
The Abami suddenly began to screech horribly, and the rope it was bond with came loosed, raising it's hands up to hit Ileri, who covered her face with a flexed elbow to act as a shield, before it could make impact, it suddenly got shattered by a huge stone which came out from the ground
Ileri sighed and slowly loose her guard, and was surprised by the huge stone before her, she flicked her fingers and the Stine dropped to the ground.
"How did she do that? " Goke asked and both he and Mare ran up to her.
"The Forgotten Lair, the powers are manifesting" Mare replied
"Are you okay? "
"Yes, but in matter of days, our world won't be, the Abami are bringing war to our door step, we have to warn each kingdoms" Ileri said, and walked towards her horse " Let's go, they'll find their way home" Ileri said and waited for others to mount their horses.
Chapter Four
Oba Gbenro chuckled wickedly as a servant read the words in the scroll that was sent to the king audibly, while the elders were seated, before the king.
The servant opened the sack and rolled out an Abami's head, which startled everyone in the palace including the king himself
"Who sent the letter? " Oba Gbenro asked
"The lady with the whip of thunder" the servant replied, and bowed his head.
For a while Oba Gbenro kept mute, unsure of what to say, he squeezed his mouth and faced the elders.
"Send out scouts towards the Agbede (Cross path), that is the only place these things could be holed up, the last time, that was where they were, and invite this lady to the palace" Oba Gbenro said and looked at his elders of they had anything to contribute.
"My Lord.…"
***
***
Ileri walked off away from the rest, while they rested in the woods, the past few days, they had made sure they passed messages to all neighbouring cities and villages, telling them about a mutual threat and prove so they could easily believe the message.
Walking further into the woods, she noticed swift movement before her and brought out her whip of thunder, she wasn't taking chances this time around.
She noticed a presence behind her and turned around, slashing her whip furiously. The person behind her, was quick to dodge the attack, seeing the familiar image, Ileri spoke.
"You, I knew you've been trailing us this while, right from the The forgotten lair, what do you want? " Ileri said and asked the person dressed in black overall, which didn't even leave a clue to who it was.
"I want that! " the person said with a feminine voice and dashed at Ileri.
Ileri squatted and held her sword back with the right hand, and screamed as she pulled the wind forward with her right hand.
The force sent the lady hard against a tree, drained her energy, she felt to the ground and weakly stood up.
"You have a wind spirit too" the lady said weakly and Ileri walked forward "Life is fair to you, things we've searched for years and failed"
"You were looking the wrong direction " Ileri said and suddenly smoke filed the area, and when it subdued the lady was gone.
***
***
The King messengers walked into the palm wine stand which was by the see, the royal staff with them, which was a way of representing the presence of the King.
"The King orders the presence of the lady with the whip of thunder in his palace immediately"
Everyone kept mute, pretending not to hear what the messenger had said
"Are you all deaf? "
A huge man stood to his feet and drew out his sword from the sheath which was hanging around his waist.
"Weeks ago, she was wanted and now, are the rumours true? " the man asked and watched as the messenger placed the staff before him and used his right hand to draw out his own sword, while the other two messengers with him also placed their hands on the handle of their swords while it was still in its sheath.
"You have no right to question, the king speaks you reply, by the other of the kind I command you to stand down".
A knife flipped out from nowhere and stucked on the wooden pillar of the bar, and on it was a tiny piece of paper. The messenger behind the pillar pulled out the knife and unfolded the paper and passed it to the messenger with the staff.
"Tell the king to expect us by noon" he read out the letter and turned around to take his leave
***
***
Ileri and her crew walked into the palace, behind were seven fierce looking guards, each holding firm ti a spear on the right hand and a shield on the left.
Oba Gbenro raised his head up and stood up in his full height, looking bold and like he was purposely built for battle. He watched as Ileri led the team and expected them to pay him homage.
For a while every where went still, then a guard hit Goke with his shield, trying to make him bow.
Annoyingly Goke grabbed him by the neck and held him into mid air.
"Enough, we are here for something much more serious" Ileri said calmly and slowly
For a while Oba Gbenro eyed the Whip of Thunder with Ileri in his ordinary form, he stood up from his throne and descended the stairs, his horsetail on his hand.
"I admire your courage, we have our differences, so you're the one, who would have thought"
"Are we still talking about our common threat, or we have to scatter everything? " Mare asked with a bold tone.
Oba Gbenro looked at Mare, and was speechless, he walked closer to him and held his left hand and turned it around, looked at the scar on it and walked back.
"Surprised I'm alive, this should be the right time to rip your head off, and return the throne back to the rightful owner"
"Watch your tongue, even with your new physique, you're still no match for me"
The palace door suddenly came open and an injured soldier ran in, holding tight to the wound on his stomach and struggled to get closer, exhausted he fell to the ground on his knees and spoke.
"My lord, they're fast approaching, estimated at least two days, there are fierce and relentless, about ten's of millions in numbers " the soldier managed to speak and coughed out blood.
"I thought I could use your help, to stop these monsters, the abamis from before aren't so fierce, I sense upgrade on them, join my army" Oba Gbenro said.
"You're a king and we have our king, we'll fight for ourselves " Mare said and they all took their leave.
Oba Gbenro grinned with hatred and made his eyes burn red, feeling angry.
"Prepare for battle, tell the commander to meet me at the war chambers and other warriors"
***
***
Ileri stood beside her horse, while Mare was by her side he stretched his hands forward and a black Raven landed on it with a little piece of paper tied to it leg, gently he retrived the paper and the bird flew in his shoulder.
"The coast is clear, no sign of Abami " Mare said
"Something doesn't add up, the soldiers were killed by them, we saw the marks and all of a sudden there's no trace whatsoever" Ileri said and looked at Mare who reasoned along with her.
"It's almost night, let's head to our hideout, rest and tomorrow we will know what to do" Mare suggested and climbed on Ileri's horse and helped her on it.
***
***
Oba Gbenro walked in last into the meeting venue, by the entrance was a statue of a previous ruler, while the walls were made of hard bricks.
"Your majesty" everyone in the hall chorused and bowed their heads
"Commander, what have you come up with? " Oba Gbenro asked and took his position at the middle, before the round table.
"We are planning on intercepting them here, four miles before our border, we are certain our city is their main focus, conquering smaller cities isn't a problem for them, from here, another troop will begin standby to support those in front line" the commander said and circled his right middle finger around a portion of the map before them.
"How many men do we have at disposal? " someone asked and stared at the commander.
"7,000 foot soldiers, 14,000 chariots, 2,000 archers, and 8,000 supports" the commander replied.
"We have to do things quickly" someone said.
"I know, I already ordered the men to take position, when it's mid night, they leave"
A soldier suddenly barged in into the hall and went on his knees holding tight to his sword.
"We are under attack" he announced.
"Attacked, by who?" Oba Gbenro asked still not getting it.
"Abamis, they came in through our escape tunnel"
A loud bang shook the entire city, and everyone is the hall looked at each other, unbelievable
"How coke these things now think more than humans, and I thought only royals and troop leaders knew about the escape tunnel" Oba Gbenro said as he walked out, the commander following behind him in haste.
***
***
Ileri watched as Ige and Goke danced round the camp fire, each holding to the a wine gourd, and drinking. Ileri on the gulped loudly and drank more from the wine gourd with her, already dead drunk, dizzy eyes, she fell hard to the ground as she tried to stand up.
Mare spoke gibberish to himself, as he saw triple of everyone.
***
***
war cries filled the entire city, women running around to safety with their child, husband's taking responsibility to protect their wife. The attack was something mo one ever predicted, no one ever thought it would go this way. While they were busy making strategies, their enemy was already unto them.
"Protect the women and the children, let the men fight" Oba Gbenro ordered and quickly the commander ran out from the palace.
"Foolish creatures, this was not what I planned with their Queen, attack other cities, and they had the guts to breach agreement" Oba Gbenro muttered to himself and made flames cover his entire arm, yet his cloth was not burnt.
Oba Gbenro eyes turned bright white and his soul came out from his body, while he was seated on the throne and it walked out of the palace. Getting into the main city, he watched as his soldiers were slaughtered mercilessly, citizens beheaded without mercy by the creatures.
He elevated into the air and looked around, as fire razed down houses, he became raged and with great speed he went into the ground, and in an instant he was in a mild dark cave, he heard a soft growl and turned around to face the queen of the abamis.
She was like a normal human, fully endowed, with beautiful bright face, neatly trimmed nails.
"The evil beneath your beauty, why did you attack my people, that wasn't the plan, the plan was to attack other villages I can't conquer and take them down for me"
The queen stood from her throne, and placed a red bead around her neck and walked forward, with smile on her lips
"I should have killed you when I had the chance, is this how you repay me? "
"You, I'm no fool, I see the future, I sense the future, when I resurrected, I had the ability to read minds, I knew you'd kill us when the deal is done" The Queen said and in an instance was seated again on her throne.
"I promise you this, after this is done I'll kill you myself "
**
***
Ige stood up lazily from the mat and yawned, walked off from the rest while they were asleep and began to ease himself. After he was done he turned around and saw the fierce flames from the city and ran up to the rest, screaming.
"The city is one fire" he shouted.
"How is that even possible?" Mare asked and looked up at the direction of the city.
"It'll take about five hours to get there, quick" Ileri shouted and mounted her horse.
***
***
Getting closer to the city, Ileri jumped down her horse and held her sword tight on her right hand and looked as the whole city was laid in ruins.
"I don't think anyone is alive, the both looks empty " Mare said
"Help!! " a faint voice said among the lifeless bodies in the ground.
Mare walked closer to the soldier and knelt by his side, and placed his right palm on the wound on the soldier's chest.
"What happened here"
"Abamis, they came in through the city escape route and blocked off the entrance, they caught us off guard and sabotaged our armory" the soldier said in pains
"No one is alive, who is the mole? " Ige asked looking confused.
"No one knows" the soldier said and coughed out blood, and groaned as his body went cold.
"If we go through the escape route, we can get them, before they do worse" Goke said.
"You can't do it alone " a voice said behind them.
Looking back they saw the complete band, those that had left the band and used their gains from the first loot to begin business.
"Jide, you'll came back" Goke said and smiled.
"Once a fighter, always a fight, follow me, I know a shorter route"
Chapter Five
FINALE
Mare alighted his horse, amid the thick dark forest, he placed his right palm on the huge foot print on the ground and looked up ahead.
"We found them, the entrance should be here somewhere " he said and just then a soft growl came from afar and quickly they hid themselves.
An Abami wielding an irregular patterned sword came out from a mirage sniffing the environment.
An arrow suddenly pierced through the throat of the Abami, slowly it went down but let out a very loud alarming noise.
"That sounds bad" Ileri said and suddenly she was swept of her feet.
The dark trees suddenly came alive, using their huge branches to hit against everyone so hard.
Mare rolled aside, as a huge branch came at him, swiftly he shot out fireballs out from his hand which burnt down the tree completely into ashes.
"Even you!! " Goke shouted as he broke a branch that dashed at him.
"Well brother, I'm seeing it for the first time"
Ileri geared up her whip of thunder, slashing hard at the trees, which burnt them down, while Mare continued shooting out the fireballs from his palms till all trees were burnt down.
"Fire on your beards" Jide said jokingly and grunted as he adjusted his broken nose.
From the mirage, Abamis began to come out in their large number, and slowly the mirage faded, revealing a huge castle with faded paintings.
"Their queen must be there, we have to get in" Ileri said and breathed out loudly.
"Come-on, we will hold them, you and Mare should go ahead" Jide said and slashed his razor laced whip
Mare shot fireballs after fireball, making way through them, so they could get to the entrance of the castle.
"they are not relenting" Ileri grunted as she slashed an Abami with her whip of thunder which shattered it into pieces.
Ileri placed her sword in its sheath and folded both palms, grunting hard, with her neck veins like they'd tear apart if more strain was placed on it. She raised dust into the air and made it come down with great force.
"That's our cover " she said to Mare and quickly they both made their way into the castle.
***
**
Getting into the castle, it was totally empty, with stairs that curled up around the wall, which went up till the end of castle at the top.
"If this place is so empty, what are they protecting so much" Mare asked looking confused, just then theybheard footsteps approaching and next was voices of disagreement.
Mare quickly brought a blue power from the locket around his next and sprayed it on himself and Ileri, which made them invisible
The middle floor of the castle, came open and from the stairs below, Oba Gbenro and the lady that had attacked Ileri in the woods came out.
"I was duped right before my own eyes, all my dreams of total domination shattered, I'll make that insect pay" Oba Gbenro said in annoyance breathing heavily.
"Bidemi, prepare to strike her down, she arrives soon" Oba Gbenro said to the lady, who pulled down the black hood that covered her face.
"Mother!! " Ileri said in surprise from where she stood still invisible
"Wait, the witch is your mother? " Mare asked softly, not trying to believe whatever heard.
From above a huge creature, with fierce wings, three horns on its head, huge abnormal sticky chest, with a silly breast, scaly hind legs, descended from above and as it landed it shape shifted into the beautiful queen of Abami.
"Is everything going as planned? " the queen asked.
Without answering Oba Gbenro shot out fireballs from his hands at the queen, sending her hard against the wall, leaving crack marks on it.
The queen shook her head and quickly dodged the second fireball attack and turned back into her beast form.
With very quick reflex she launched herself at Oba Gbenro, and Bidemi responded dived before the king and slashed the beast on the face, which was followed by a loud screeching noise.
Annoyingly the beast, slashed Bidemi on the arm, creating a very deep wound and slowly her arms began to turn black and slowly it began to spread throughout her body.
"Make us visible " Ileri said.
"Mother! " Ileri shouted and ran intobher mobile while Oba Gbenro was engaged in a fierce fight against the beast and with mare lending a helping hand.
"I'm sorry I had to leave" Bidemi said and smiled as Ileri placed her head on her laps.
"But you attacked me in the woods"
"I had to be sure, you're were strong enough for this, I tried as much as possible to get back your fathers throne, Gbenro killed your father, but then I wasn't introduced yet as his wife, but I was pregnant, I had to leave made you go through hardship to prepare you"
"Shsshhh, stop talking" Ileri said while weeping uncontrollably.
Bidemi placed her already darkened hand on Ileri face and spoke
"Kill that monster in human form, once he is dead, words will be sent to you" Bidemi said and slowly began to take the form of an Abami.
"Forgive me" Ileri said and drove a dagger into her mother's stomach.
"Thank you"
The beast used its horn to throw Mare away, smashing him against the wall. Not letting go, Mare grabbed two horns and broke them off, without wasting any moment, he drove both horns into the beast eyes, while Ileri slashed it hard her whip of thunder.
"Sorry about your mother" Mare said Ashe panted hard.
"You fight well my friend" Oba Gbenro said and continued "But I can't let you live" he said and made fireballs from his hands, and dash at Ileri.
The queen of Abami with her last will, dived at Oba Gbenro before he could finish his attack on Ileri, grabbed him by the head and bite it off.
The queen growled and fell dead to the ground and outside all her armies began falling dead like leaves to the ground.
"They did it" Ige shouted and ran into the castle, letting go of his bow and quiver.
***
***
Month Later
Ileri stood at the edge of the cliff where her and mare had always stood to watch how life buzzes
"My lady, the elders await you" Ige said, holding tight to his bow, with an expensive Ankara fabric on him.
"I don't think I'm ready" Ileri replied
"We are here always with you" Mare's voice came from another end and the entire band surfaced.
"Let's do this"
End
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